Flashlight



A ria 4, 1939. w. J. OFFICER ET AL V 2,153,336

FLASHLIGHT Filed June 19,- 1936 INVENTORS, hsley J 01%, fl/Wz'lk Z [1600K ATTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 4, 1939 UNITED STATES FLASHLIGHT Wesley J. Officer, Hampden, andOrville '1. Wood,

Clinton, Mass, assignors to Blake Manufac-v turing Corporation, Clinton, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application June 19, 1936, Serial No. 86,050

1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in flashlights, or as they are sometimes termed "hand lanterns, in the casing of which several dry cells are usually disposed. A switch device is provided for opening and closing the circuit to the lamp that is disposed substantially in the focal center of a reflector.

Flashlight casings are commonly composed in whole or in part of thin sheet metal and may conveniently be joined by expressed threads, that is, threads in which the entire thickness of .a sheet of metal is bent to the contour of the sides of the thread. Such threads, however, are subject to bending and damage and moreover are conspicuous at the exterior of the casing, rendering it of less attractive appearance. In accordance with our invention we provide a construction wherein some or all of the threads are interiorly located so as to be protected from damage by outside shocks such as might arise from dropping the flashlight and so as to permit attractive styling of the flashlight as a whole, as will be apparent from the following description of a single illustrative embodiment of our invention shown by 2.5 way of example in the accompanying drawing.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. l is a plan view, showing the flashlight with all of the parts assembled; that is to say, with the end cap and the member or hood in which the reflector is located.

Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view, showing the bezel part or lens ring for securing the crystal or lens in place.

Fig. 3 is a view showing the hood part that is 35 attached to the main body part or flashlight cas- Fig. 4 is a detail view, showing the means of attaching, to the casing, the internally threaded member which is secured to the hood part.

40 Fig. 5 is a detail view showing the end cap which is attached to the casing.

Fig. 6 is a detail view, partly in section, of the casing or battery-receiving part of the flashlight, showing the oppositely threaded ends for receiv- 45 ing the hood and bottom cap, and

Fig. '7 is a view showing a modification, in which the hood part may be made of molded material for securing the threaded elements in place, instead of the usual stamping of sheet metal.

50 Referring to the drawing in detail:

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawing, we have there shown a flashlight having a main body portion, in essence a battery receiving casing adapted toreceive the usual dry cells, a hood 3 for 55 housing the reflector and incandescent lamp,

to which hood is secured the bezel or lens ring l0, and an end or bottom cap H, all of which may be formed of thin sheet metal and united end to end and may, as shown, present a generally smooth contour in the assembled flashlight, the 5 parts herein, however, being shown as set off one from another by the beadings 5, I and I2.

To provide for joining the parts together by expressed threads well protected from exterior damage and permitting the smooth contours il- 10 lustrated in Fig. 1, the body I of the battery casing I may be somewhat reduced at its forward end (Figure 6) and provided with the expressed thread 2. The hood 3 is of sheet metal of suitable contour to merge with the exposed portion 15 of the body I in an attractive manner, and we provide a sheet metal sleeve 4 which may be suspended within the hollow of the hood 3 at its rear as by providing the rolled-over edge 5 thereon embracing the slightly flared margin 6 at the rear 2 of the hood. As best seen in Fig. 3, the sleeve is provided with an expressed thread adapted to screw on the thread 2 of the casing l, as shown in Fig. 6, and it will be seen (Figure 1) that the threaded joint is completely concealed and protected from damage by the overlying sides of the hood while the contour of the flashlight is interrupted in no way by the presence of the threads, being defined at this point by the lines of the hood 3 and the lines of the battery casing I, in this instance set on? by the bead 5 at the junction.

The forward portion of the hood may be provided with a bead l and forwardly thereof with the reduced extension 8 provided with an expressed thread for the attachment of the bezel or lens ring I0. Within the bore of the bezel ring is a sheet metal thimble 9 provided with expressed threads, which sleeve has a drive fit within the bezel ring or is otherwise secured therewithin. The bezel ring is connected by means of this thimble carried thereby to the reduced portion 8 of the hood and the interengaging sheet metal threads are protected by the unbroken wall of the bezel ring and completely hidden thereby, the'exterior wall of the ring merging, herein shown with the addition of the ornamental beading I, with the wall 3 of the hood.

The end cap II is provided with the reduced extension l3 having an expressed thread which may screw into an expressed thread formed in the thimble I4 secured as by a drive fit in the rear end of the battery box I.

Referring to Fig. '7, l5 designates the hood member as being formed of molded, insulating material, as "bakelite, with the threads [6 of the metal member I! secured in place with the molded material and having openings I8 for receiving a spanner tool. A metal threaded member I9 is secured to the molded part l5, in any suitable way, and formed with spanner receiving openings 20 l rom the description given it will be seen that we have provided a flashlight structure in which all the threads connecting the parts are received inwardly of the exterior walls of the flashlight when assembled for use and protected against external shocks and that furthermore the arrangement permits the construction of a flashlight.

is a struck-up portion of the thread 2, for retaining the hood 3 in diflerent adjusted positions for focusing purposes.

What we claim is:

A hood for a flashlight having a cylindrical threaded portion to which the hood may be attached to conceal the threaded portion, said hood comprising a hollow member flared outwardly toward the front and provided with a threaded forward portion to receive a lens bezel, the rear marginal portion of the hood having a bead, a cylindrical sleeve, having a threaded portion, within the hood, the rear edge of said cylindrical sleeve having a continuous bend around the bead of the hood to secure said sleeve and hood together and prevent relative axial displacement, and means at the head to prevent relative rotation of the sleeve and hood.

WESLEY J. OFFICER. ORVILLE T. WOOD. 

